By Steve Breazeale
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Dolphins Fall to Foothill in Double OT in CIF Championship Match
It took eight quarters of play between Dana Hills and Foothill to decide who would take home the CIF-SS Division 2 boys water polo championship trophy on Nov. 21. In the eighth quarter of the double sudden-death overtime contest, Foothill’s Mike Miller broke the standstill with a goal, giving Foothill a 6-5 victory and its second straight CIF-SS title.
The match featured the top two teams in the division, as Foothill entered as the No. 1 seed and the Dolphins came in at No. 2.
Dana Hills got out to a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, and had a narrow 4-3 advantage after the third. But the Knights scored once in the fourth and shutout the Dolphins in the final period to force the final two overtime quarters.
The game went back and forth from there. Goals, it seemed, were hard to come by.
Foothill scored in the first overtime and the Dolphins responded with their own goal in the second extra quarter. With the score knotted at 5-5 after two overtime periods, the sudden-death, golden goal rule was enacted.
Neither team scored in the first sudden death overtime, but Miller found the net in the second.
It was the first time a Dolphin team had advanced to the finals. Dana Hills had reached the semifinals in 1991 and 2014.
Dana Hills senior Bennett Williams led all scorers with three goals and tallied three steals. Adam Cole and James Daugherty each chipped in one goal. Senior goalie Riley Zachary recorded 16 saves.
Foothill’s Chas Hornecker and Nolan Ortega each had two goals. The Knights’ goalie Arash Izadmanesh had 11 saves.
The loss brought an end to what was a historic season for the Dolphins. The team went 25-7 on the year, including a perfect 8-0 record in South Coast League play. The Dolphins won the league title for a fourth straight year.
Dana Hills paved its way to the championship match by defeating Redondo Union, Los Osos and Mira Costa, respectively.
Boys Cross Country Places Second at CIF-SS Championships
For the second consecutive year, the Dana Hills High School boys cross country team finished runners-up at the CIF-SS Cross Country Championships.
The Dolphins placed second in Division 1 behind the champion, Great Oak. Great Oak had runners finish second, fourth and eighth en route to claiming the title.
The Dolphins also had three runners place inside the top-10 at Mt. SAC. Dana Hills was led by senior Mason Coppi, who took fifth with a time of 15:05. Senior Jake Ogden (15:12) placed seventh and sophomore Jack Landgraf (15:23) took ninth.
Junior Brandon Hough (15:35) placed 15th, senior Colin Stein (15:58) placed 36th and junior Thomas Wilfert (16:07) placed 44th.
The girls team placed eighth in the Division 1 race.
Senior Sienna Serrao led the team with a time of 19:24, good for a 36th-place finish. Junior Alyssa White (19:25) took 40th, junior Kathryn Kaloroumakis (19:32) placed 46th, senior Camille Perkins (19:42) took 54th and junior Bella Alston (19:58) placed 66th.
Both the Dolphin programs entered the finals after winning their respective heats in the CIF-SS Prelims on Nov. 14.
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